Several aspirants who participated in the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Assembly primaries in Plateau State have petitioned the party’s appeal committee, alleging that elections did not hold in many senatorial districts and calling for the cancellation of the exercise.
The aggrieved aspirants, led by a serving senator Diket Satso Plang and joined by other contenders across the three senatorial zones, accused party officials of conducting a flawed process marked by alleged vote allocation, conflicting results, and disregard for the party’s guidelines on direct primaries.
Among those present at the submission of the petition were Chief Chris Giwa, an aspirant for Plateau North Senatorial District; Chief Ephraim Usman, aspiring for Plateau Central; Barrister Beatrice Dakas, the only female senatorial aspirant in Plateau Central; and former House of Representatives member, Komsol, who is seeking to represent Plateau South in the Senate.
The group said they remained loyal members of the APC but insisted that justice must prevail in the interest of democracy and party integrity.
Speaking on behalf of the aspirants, Diket Satso Plang described the primaries as the “worst” he had witnessed in his political career, alleging that no valid election was conducted in several senatorial districts.
According to him, attempts to hold elections in some areas were abruptly stopped, while in other cases, results were allegedly announced despite voting not taking place.
“In the National Assembly election, particularly the Senate, no election was conducted in our senatorial districts. Where elections were attempted, they were withdrawn and never continued,” he stated.
The aspirants further decried what they described as the emergence of multiple and conflicting results in some House of Representatives primaries, insisting that the process lacked transparency and credibility.
They argued that the direct primary system was intended to allow all registered party members to freely choose candidates, but alleged that the exercise was manipulated through vote allocation rather than actual voting.
One of the petitioners expressed outrage over figures allegedly assigned to him despite his position as an incumbent senator.
“For somebody to sit and allocate 1,423 votes to me as an incumbent senator is total blackmail and unacceptable,” he said.
The aspirants also faulted the alleged failure of the party leadership to engage stakeholders or pursue consensus in line with APC guidelines, maintaining that no agreement was reached among aspirants before candidates emerged.
They urged the party’s appeal committee to thoroughly investigate the complaints and cancel the primaries where due process was not followed.
